Blackburn Rovers manager Graeme Souness has dismissed reports that the club had given Damien Duff permission to speak to Liverpool, with a transfer expected to be concluded by this weekend.

BBC Online reported that Duff had rejected an offer of a new "name-your-terms" contract from the Blackburn board and, consequently, the club had decided to enter transfer negotiations with Liverpool.

"The World Cup has been and gone and people are trying to get headlines and back pages," said Souness. "We have had no contact whatsoever from anyone regarding David Dunn or Damien Duff. We have had no offers for either of those players."

Earlier this month Souness conceded that the club would consider a substantial offer for Duff, who has two years left on his contract at Ewood Park, but Liverpool's rumoured bid of £8 million falls considerably short of what Souness defines as "substantial", which is said to be in the region of £20 million.

"If someone like Internazionale came along with an offer of ridiculous money then we'd have to consider it," he said. "I've been in the game long enough to know how simple economics work. The fact remains we have not had any offers for Damien and we don't want any either because, at this moment in time, he's not for sale."

Meanwhile, Mark Kennedy has returned to Wolves after visiting a specialist in Belgium with the groin injury that ruled him out of the World Cup. The club will now decide whether Kennedy should have surgery to cure the problem or further rest.

"Surgery looks like giving him a higher chance of success, rather than rest, because that doesn't appear to have worked as yet," said Wolves manager Dave Jones. "We will be discussing the situation with Mark and the medical team before deciding which course of action to take."

Meanwhile, Leeds United have rejected a second bid from Manchester United for England defender Rio Ferdinand, according to BBC reports.

"I have had one conversation with Manchester United but it did not move the situation on any further," chairman Peter Ridsdale was reported as saying. "We have still to find a bid of a level that we would find acceptable."

The Leeds squad is due to leave for a pre-season tour of the Far East and Australia this morning and the club have said they expect Ferdinand to be on the plane.